Old school sees new life thanks to Ruis donation

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

An old school in Columbia Falls is seeing new life, as a local nonprofit is working with developer Mick Ruis to refurbish what many refer to as the old junior high into a vibrant center for youth and the community.

Last week kids from the Boys and Girls Club were doing a variety of activities in the building on Fourth Avenue West while a daycare was bustling on the lower floor. Land to Hand, another local nonprofit whose charge, among other things, is to help feed less fortunate kids in the community, is also moving in soon and will look to remodel the commercial kitchen in the building. The nonprofit will also use the former library for badly needed space for a food pantry.

Freedom Bank President Don Bennett is spearheading the effort to rejuvenate the building, which was originally the high school and built about 1940. But for decades, the school was used as a junior high.

Bennett and other community members have created an umbrella nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation called the Columbia Falls Kids Foundation.

 Ruis and his wife, Wendy, bought the building and surrounding grounds from Columbia Falls School District in 2021 for $550,000. He fixed the roof and the heating system and also did significant upgrades to the building, which also houses his Ruis Wrestling Academy, another organization dedicated to Columbia Falls youth.

Ruis in an interview last week said he first considered the building for teacher and senior housing, but after looking at it further and talking to Bennett, he decided to give it to the nonprofit. The Boys and Girls Club was considering a large, new facility next to St. Richard Catholic Church on land it purchased there.

But the old junior high, with its classrooms and big gyms, was largely a turnkey facility.

“This is the best use of the property,” Ruis said.

He said deal to gift the school to the nonprofit should happen in 30 days or so.

The Foundation, in turn, will lease the space to the respective nonprofits for $1 a year and they will split the utilities and maintenance based on the square footage they’re using.

Bennett has long been a champion of the Boys and Girls Club and youth in the city. He once even jumped into the boxing ring years ago and fought a professional boxer to raise funds for the club.

He said he’s wanted to have a youth center here for years.

“Our goal is to give every child the opportunity to reach their potential,” he said during a Columbia Falls Chamber Business After hours event to showcase the project.

The Boys and Girls Club today is using the entire second floor of the building after years in the cramped former Episcopal Church across the street.

Having the space has been a blessing, said Club director of operations Steven Crews.

“We felt like we couldn’t grow,” he said. “We constantly had a waiting list.”

The Club offers a host of after school and summer programs for youth in grades K-8 for a nominal fee each week.

On this day, junior high aged kids were playing Dungeons and Dragons, while younger kids were learning spelling words in the library and others were working in the club’s science, technology, engineering and math class.

Now that they’ve moved into the old junior high, they’ve been able to have separate classrooms for each activity, Crews noted. They have a computer lab, a music room and they’re working on setting up a sewing room.

The club sets aside time for students to do homework and yes, there is still time to play in the spacious yard or playground.

On the ground floor, Jessica Welch and Sammi Cheetham run the Gateway to Early Learning daycare and preschool. They had to scramble to get the facility open by the time school started, Bennett explained, as there had to be significant upgrades to the facility before it could open.

Now it has new floors, secure doors and entryways and soon will have a washer and dryer.

“They’ve been putting in long hours,” Bennett said. “They’ve worked their tails off.”

They’re watching about 28 children daily, but they have room for more, Welch noted.

The idea is for families to have daycare for younger kids and then the Boys and Girls Club for older kids, so they only have to stop at one place to pick up their children.

Intermountain Healthcare will also be offering counseling services each month at the facility as well for families who need the support.

Land to Hand is also excited to be moving some of its operations into the building. The agency, among other things, feeds about 400 students each weekend through its backpack program, noted director Gretchen Boyer. Having a commercial kitchen will be a Godsend, as they’ll be better able to prepare foods for the program, while giving families the ability to pick and choose what foods they’d like included in the backpack.

Right now, for example, because they don’t have a commercial kitchen, they can’t process the fruits and vegetables they give to children, she noted.

Boyer said the goal is to have the kitchen up and running by January.

All of this takes community support, of course. Donors and potential volunteers can learn more by visiting the Columbia Falls Kids Foundation website at: cfkidsfoundation.org. Or by contacting the individual organizations. The Boys and Girls Club, for example, is always looking for volunteers, Crews noted.

It can be reached at bgcglacier.org.

Families can inquire about daycare by calling Welch at 406-471-1571.

Land to Hand’s website is landtohandmt.org.

The wrestling academy is ruiswrestling.com.